Unrest in Tibet threatens bid to become oldest Everest climber

Yuichiro Miura has recovered from heart operations and has tested his ageing limbs to the limit; now the biggest obstacle to the 75-year-old's bid to become the oldest person to scale Mount Everest is political rather than physical.

Speaking to reporters as he left for Nepal to acclimatise before the ascent, the Japanese climber described the unrest in Tibet as "regrettable", but said he hoped to go ahead with plans to reach the top of the world's highest peak on May 16.

Miura has a permit to climb Everest from the Chinese mountaineering authorities, but will reassess the situation after he arrives in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

"No formal decision has been made on how the situation ... will affect climbs like ours," he said in a statement. "We hope the situation in Tibet will stabilise soon."

Political unrest aside, his attempt may fall foul of Chinese plans to ban ascents of Everest during the first 10 days of May, when the Olympic torch is due to be taken up the mountain. If that happens Miura said he would postpone his summit date to May 31. Invoking Everest's Tibetan name, he said: "The hurdles are high but Lady Luck of Qomolangma is calling me."

If he succeeds Miura, who reached the 8,848m (29,029ft) peak in 2003 aged 70, will wrest the record from compatriot Katsusuke Yanagisawa, who made the summit last year at 71 years and two months.

Despite suffering an irregular heartbeat that required surgery after his 2003 ascent, Miura insists he is in good shape. "My condition has greatly improved since before ... I mean, since I was 70," he said in a television interview. "I think I have a reasonably good chance of succeeding."

Miura, whose preparation has included sleeping in a low-oxygen chamber and walking with weights strapped to his ankles, is from solid mountaineering stock. His father skied down part of Mont Blanc, west Europe's highest mountain, in 2003 at the age of 99. He died in 2006.

Miura has also skied down some great peaks. His 8,000-metre descent on skis down Everest's South Col route was captured in the 1975 Oscar-winning documentary, The Man Who Skied Down Everest.

"If you have a goal in life you have to go through the physical and mental training, forget about age and take up the challenge," said Miura, who will be accompanied by his son Yuta. "I feel like I'm in my thirties or forties."